How Bucs Respond Is Key to Entire Year

Sunday

Sep 16, 2012 at 11:32 PM

The Tampa Bay Bucs should be mad today. They should feel they literally gave a very winnable game away to the New York Giants on Sunday.

By RICK BROWNTHE LEDGER

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. | The Tampa Bay Bucs should be mad today. They should feel they literally gave a very winnable game away to the New York Giants on Sunday.But that's life in the NFL. One week you're the greatest thing since the invention of football, the next week, you're one step removed from Forrest Gump.What's going to be very interesting is how the Bucs respond to this loss.Tampa Bay did some good things on Sunday.We saw the connection of Josh Freeman to Vincent Jackson really click. Tampa Bay defensive backs grabbed three interceptions, including a dazzling 60-yard pick-6 by Eric Wright. And Doug Martin scored his first NFL touchdown on a spectacular 8-yard run, where he hit the X-Box 360 spin move then tapped the button for extra speed to make it into the end zone.But then Freeman threw an ill-advised pass right before the end of the third quarter that seemed to give the Giants life."I went through one, two, then came up and tried to find the back and was like I have to get it out," Freeman said of the pass. "You know the appropriate thing in that situation obviously would be to take a sack or try to run and get as much as you can. But definitely a bonehead play by me. Got to avoid those at all costs."It was a situation where Freeman was trying to do too much, again. He got into trouble last year by doing that exact same thing. He got a pass last year because the team was in such a free-fall that the blame was diverted to the coaching staff.This year, he has to do better. For nearly seven quarters, he had avoided any bonehead plays. Now, he did come back in the fourth quarter and hit Michael Williams on a beautiful 41-yard touchdown pass and nearly connected with Williams again late in the game down in the red zone (the called completion on the field was overturned by booth review). So Freeman didn't let that pick bother him.What about the rest of the team? What about the coaches?Greg Schiano was chastised at midfield by Giants coach Tom Coughlin for ordering his players to fire off the ball when the Giants were taking a knee to try to cause a fumble. Will Schiano, who has preached toughness and discipline to his players since he arrived, remain that way?Speaking of coaches, defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan blitzed and blitzed and blitzed and the Giants capitalized.On the game-winning drive, Eli Manning caught the Bucs in a single-high safety look and hit Victor Cruz for an 80-yard touchdown. Will Sheridan dial down the blitzes now that the team was burned?This was the Bucs' first loss this season. They weren't going to go 16-0. Only two teams have done that in NFL history, so a loss was going to happen.Will the players, who have been onboard with Schiano and his staff, remain unwavered in their belief of the coaching staff? Will the coaches overreact to this one loss?This is a very important week for the Bucs. Last year, the squad could not overcome adversity.It will be interesting to see how this team deals with it.

[ Rick Brown may be reached at rick.brown@theledger.com. Follow his Bucs coverage at BucsScene.blogs.theledger.com and on Twitter: @LedgeronBucs. ]